REVIEW: Bling Squared Glass Sculptures

Background

Bling Squared is the studio where artists Neacol and Stanley Miller hone their flame-worked glass sculpture skills. They create small pieces that are part jewelry and part designer collectible. Each piece measures approximately 1/2 inch and includes an 18" silver-plated chain and a cell phone charm attachment.

For our review, they sent along a pair Bling Squared glass sculptures. The Green Gentleman Octopus comes from Bling Squared's 'Gentlemen' steampunk-inspired collection, and the Adorable Owl might be one of their most complex designs.

Each piece come packaged in a black jewelry box. The glass piece sits on cotton for protection. On the inside lid of the box, there is a Bling Squared sticker.

Our Opinion

Even though the glasswork creations from Bling Squared fall somewhere between jewelry and designer collectible, there's no doubt that they are art pieces. All of their creations are hand sculpted glass, and all of the different details and colors you see are drops of molten glass. There is no painting involved in the Bling Squared glasswork.

You should really check out this five minute long video profile from Jordan Stratford. It shows both artists at work and gives you a much better understanding of how these glass sculptures are prepared.

The most shocking thing is that they don't use any paint on these. It's all glass work. For example, the Adorable Owl takes nine layers of glass to produce. All of those different colors use different color glass sticks. While I like the Octopus the best, I think the Owl is the best representative of the crafting that occurs with one of Bling Squared's glass sculptures.

What are my thoughts on the line? They're great little hand-sculpted pieces. I don't believe I would be able to get away with wearing one of them on a necklace, and I would be a little hesitant about putting one on my cell phone (I might give it 30 minutes before I'd break it). But I would definitely find a way to hang this amongst other collectibles.